Running on Empty
by HaruChan24
Summary: Lisanna has returned and Lucy feels like she's getting more and more invisible by the moment. But what happens when Lucy gets a curse that only allows her two more months to live? Lucy decides to leave Fairy Tail and everyone in Fairy Tail realizes that they don't know what they have until they lose it. NaLu; everything belongs to the original author, but the plot. Enjoy ;) Rated T
1. Chapter 1: Alone

Chapter 1: Alone

Lucy would have been lying is she said she wasn't jealous of Lisanna, but despite of the jealousy, she was happy for her. The guild's mood seemed to be as carefree and earnest as ever since Lisanna's return and Lucy loved the smile that was on each and every one of her guild mate's faces, especially on her team mates faces. But three months had slowly passed and everyday it seemed as if her presence was disappearing more and more, she tried to swallow her jealousy, after all a friend they thought that was dead for 2 years was alive... Until the three months turned into four and four to five and finally to five months turned into six...

Lucy slowly left her apartment building and went to Fairy Tail, she stopped in front of the gate and looked at the building sadly... She remembered when Natsu had introduced her to Fairy Tail, that was when she started to really live, that was when she met everyone, Gray, Erza, Happy, Levy... Everyone... Lucy felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes and just when she wiped them off, she heard someone calling her voice.

"Lucy!" Natsu called out to me, I turned around, surprised to catch Natsu calling me... After all it has been almost six months since he ever paid any real attention to me.

"Ya?" I asked him, putting on a smile.

"Let's go on a mission!" He said smiling and before i could say anything he added, "With Happy and Lisanna and Gray and Erza of course!"

The smile on my face slowly slid off... _Lisanna... _Of course I thought sadly.

"Um... You know Natsu I'm not feeling really good..." I started out slowly, but the smile on Natsu's face only deflated a little...

"I guess next time then." He said and started walking back to where he came from... I watched his back and before thinking I blurted out.

"Actually, I think I'll go!" I shouted, he turned back and grinned,

"Well then what are you waiting for? Lisanna's waiting!" He started to run, but something was starting to bother me..._ Why do I feel like there won't be a next time...?_

Lucy splashed water on her face, stumbling once in a while, because of the rocking train. I looked into the mirror, my face was still pale and dark bags were located under my eyes. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, Erza, Gray, Happy and Natsu were all furious at me... For not doing my job properly... If only they knew... If only, I looked at the back of my neck, looking at a black sign, shaped like a scythe, with dark mist surrounding it. The death scythe he called it, suddenly the back of my neck throbbed and I tripped, splashing water all over me, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what exactly happened.

_My job was to protect the client with Lisanna, but when I came back from the washroom, she wasn't there, leaving the client alone in the car. I cursed under my breath, wondering why everyone was so head over heels in love with her, till I heard a scream come from nearby, more so it sounded like Lisanna. Cursing once more, loudly this time, I went in search for her, leaving the client with Taurus. When I found Lisanna she was in town looking at souvenirs, which confused me a lot._

_"Where the hell were you!?" I shouted at her, furious. She shot me an annoyed look and sighed._

_"Shopping, what else should I be doing?"_

_"Protecting the client!" I screamed at her, by now we were receiving stares from everyone in the store._

_"Geez, chill will you? I'll just buy this and I'll be back." I stomped out of the store, forgetting about the scream I heard._

_ When I got back to the carriage a man in a dark tunic was standing by it, Taurus nowhere to be seen. _

_"Excuse me... Who are you?" I asked as I approached the man, when he turned I felt shivers crawl up my spine and his eyes... His eyes her dark and empty... So empty... He then turned to me revealing a bloody and beaten Lisanna in front of him and my eyes widened..._

_"You... What did you do to her!?" I screamed at began running to her aid. But he stopped me, his hand clasped the back of my neck and a searing pain stretched all throughout my body, I screamed and he was silent. I think that was what scared me the most, he was emotionless, no sound coming from him, he was a robot. Then he spoke to me throwing me on the ground._

_"The death scythe. Two more months... You have two more months to live." Then he disappeared without leaving a trace that signified that he was here and then my world went blank._

When I woke up, I found 3 very angry faces staring at me, my neck was still throbbing and every part of my body hurt.

"Where the hell were you?" Gray shouted at me, leaving me confused.

"You just sat there and watched, then fainted cause you were sooo scared?!" Erza screamed at me.

"I never knew you were so weak Lucy!" The voice made me freeze as I turned and faced Natsu, tears threatening to spill.

"Oh look! The princess is ready to cry." Erza sneered at me and I froze...

"Erza... Natsu... Gray." I said my voice wavering. Erza scowled and touched her forehead.

"I'll have to report this to master, I don't think we can take you on missions anymore Lucy... You're a liability." Tears started to drop, one by one.

"I didn't do anything! Lisanna is the one who ditched her mission!" I screamed at them, and Natsu slapped me. I sat there in stunned silence. "Natsu..." I said quietly, tears pouring like waterfalls now.

"Lisanna didn't do anything wrong. It was you that made everything go wrong." I sat shocked and betrayed, watching my teammates leave me.


	2. Chapter 2: What Now?

**_Kay... Thanks for the follows/favs/reviews! They really meant a lot to me... This is like my first story on FanFiction, so I'm not used to it (forgive me!)_**

**_Sorry for not updating I've been quite busy... Like getting scouted to be a hair model... Getting a boyfriend... ANYWAYS! I hope yoou enjoy this chapter~ Thanks :)_**

* * *

**_Running on Empty Chapter 2: What Now?_**

After the mission, Lucy went home right away and started doing research, she searched through books and even contacted her stellar spirits, but they seemed clueless to what the symbol meant. Lucy finally grew frustrated about everything and threw a random book against the wall. With a loud thump, the book dropped and opened up to a page.

She picked the book up and saw the picture of the symbol in the book, gasping she immediately started to read... After skimming through the pages, the book left her hands and dropped to the floor, Lucy following it. She put her head in her hands and tried to take deep breaths, but that didn't seem possible to her at the moment, her heart started to pound and tears blurred her vision. _Oh god... What would Natsu and the others... _Oh right... They don't care anymore, at the thought of that, tears started to stream down Lucy's face and she started to sob.

She missed the missions she and Team Natsu went on, the accidental destroying of towns and buildings, Natsu sneaking into her house, she missed everyone! Why did she have to go through this...? After several minutes of crying, Lucy slowly got up from the floor, her footsteps uneven. She just had to accept the facts, things were never going to go back to the way things were, not ever... Not since Lucy was going to die in 2 months time.

* * *

The next morning, Lucy arrived at Fairy Tail early, coming with a medium sized pink suitcase. Mira was by the bar polishing glasses and Cana was passed out on a table. Lucy walked in and Mira looked up surprised to find Lucy here so early and... With a suitcase?

"Mira-San? Is Master in yet?" Lucy asked, smiling a little. Mira looked at her yet again surprised.

"Ya... He's in his office." Lucy smiled.

"Thanks..." Lucy started to walk up the stairs, but stopped halfway. "Oh and Mira-San? Thanks for everything." Lucy looked back and smiled genuinely and Mira smiled back at her.

"You're welcome Lucy."

As Lucy was out of her sight, Mira frowned, it seemed like she didn't spend as much time with Lucy then she had before. Mira smiled, whistling and polishing the glasses, thinking that she'll talk to Lucy next time. Only she didn't know there will be a next time.

* * *

Lucy knocked on Master's door and she heard his voice from inside.

"Come in." Lucy opened the door and stepped in her suitcase following her. Master looked quite surprised to see her and he quietly eyed the suitcase that was trailing Lucy. "What can I do for you my child?" He asked smiling at me and I felt a tang in my heart, knowing that I'll be leaving him very soon.

"I... I..." I stuttered, then took a deep breath and put my hand on the table. "I... I wish to leave Fairy Tail!" I swallowed my tears and kept my gaze focused on Master.

"Before I do anything, is there any reason?" Master asked, his eyes showed that he really cared and I managed to smile a small smile.

"I just think... My time at Fairy Tail is over..." Not exactly a lie, but not the whole truth either... After a long silence, Master swiped his hand over mine and my pink Fairy Tail Emblem disappeared, tears were ready to spill, but I refused to let them.

"Thank you..." I bowed slightly and as I was about to step out of the office, Master's voice called out to me.

"Lucy, Fairy Tail was your home and it always will be." I refused to look back knowing if I did I'll start to cry.

"Thank you so much Master..." I whispered and quickly walked out of the office.

* * *

I rushed down the stairs, ignoring Mira's calls and stepped out of the building. I looked back and I could practically picture everyone in there, the usual fight between Natsu and Gray, Erza separating them, Cana's call for more beer, Gajeel's bragging about Panterlily, Happy trying to woo Charle, Juvia fawning over Gray, Levy pouring random facts and most importantly I could hear everyone's laughter. I smiled a sad smile knowing that I was no longer going to be part of that happiness and laughter anymore.

Suddenly a strong wind blew, the hair that I let down on purpose to hide the scythe on the back of my neck blew to the left. I turned around wondering if anyone saw the emblem, but sighed when I saw no one. But just before I let my hair down again, I didn't notice that a drunken Cana had stumbled out of the building and spotted the mark. Lucy left a confused Cana, wondering why she was going away with a suitcase and why there had been a strange emblem on the back of her neck.

* * *

Lucy decided to take the long route to get out of Magnolia, she stopped in front of her apartment. Smiling at the memories of Natsu and Happy sneaking in. Too bad all those fun times were coming to an end. As she walked around parts of Magnolia, smiling at the fun moments she spent with friends, she finally reached the exit to Magnolia.

She looked back at the city and smiled.

_Thank you... I'll never forget you everyone... _

_"THANK YOU!" _Lucy screamed that out to the city below her and started to run tears streaming down her face.

But somewhere in the busy city, a certain Dragon slayer with perfect hearing heard the shout and frowned. Wondering why Lucy just started to scream that out to the city, he started to make his way to Fairy Tail, ready to apologize to Lucy for slapping her the other day. Only he didn't know that Lucy wouldn't be there anymore, she'd be somewhere far away, far from his reach and if he were to find her he'd have to find her in two months time or it'll be too late all he'll find is Lucy's lifeless body.

* * *

A man stood on a cliff overseeing Magnolia and he spotted a blonde girl running away from the city. He smiled, a cold and cruel smile, everything was coming into place perfectly. He started to walk away and whispered,

"Everything is going according to plan." If anyone heard, they would've thought that he'd been talking to himself, they wouldn't have known a much more darker and scarier force was nearby, ready to attack, ready to take charge.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading this far! A It really really means a lot to me~ I hop you enjoy the next chapter coming up in who knows how long :D**_


	3. Chapter 3: Please Come Back

**Running on Empty Chapter 3: Please Come Back**

There was a loud crash as Natsu threw a chair across the room, glaring at his master.

"What. Do. You mean. By... Lucy is gone?!" Natsu yelled at the master and the master just looked at Natsu coolly.

"I said she's gone... Do you have a problem with that Natsu? You didn't seem to notice that you left Lucy alone for the past few months." He said with a strong edge on his voice.

Everyone in the guild looked away guiltily; Natsu wasn't the only one that has been ignoring Lucy after all.

"B...But... She wouldn't have just quit...? Would she?" Natsu stuttered, shocked and at a loss of words.

There was a loud thump and everyone looked over to see that Erza had dropped her sword and was standing by the entrance. Her face looked pale and her eyes were wide.

"L... Lucy..." Erza couldn't bear to bring the words out. "...LUCY QUIT?!" She shouted, her voice echoing over the guild hall. The master just looked at Erza, Natsu and Gray, his eye's looking very dangerous, than he said

"I've never been this disappointed in my life... Ever." He then stood up and walked to his office, closing the door behind him. Leaving a crying Levy comforted by Gajeel, a swearing Cana, a shell shocked Fairy Tail and the shattered remains of Team Natsu wondering when things started to build up to this moment.

Lucy was walking along a road, tired and the stains of her tears on her cheeks. She rubbed her eyes furiously and started to walk faster. She half hoped one of the members of her former team would come running after her, apologizing... Begging her to come back... But that never happened, Lucy smiled a half smile, Fairy Tail may have caused her a lot of pain throughout the past few months, but it also taught her so many things and showed her so much happiness. Lucy really was going to miss that guild; she looked at her right hand, feeling a pang of loneliness. She shook her head and looked ahead, the past stays in the past, she reminded herself... There's only forward... Only forward... That was the only other option left for Lucy...

"But isn't the path forward lonely?" Lucy whipped her head around, surprised to find herself staring at a man in a long, dark coat.

"W...Who are you?" Lucy stammered her hand on her keys. Suddenly Lucy's vision blurred and she staggered.

"My, my... Don't tell me you forgot about me already?" The voice, why was that voice so familiar...? The man reached up and took his hood off; Lucy's eyes widened.

"YOU!" She pulled her keys out, but she fell onto the ground, suddenly dizzy beyond control.

"Maybe a little reminder..." He reached down and pulled her up by her hair. "I see that mark is still there." He laughed a cold and cruel laugh; Lucy started to lose consciousness "But I guess there's no reason for it to disappear now... Should there?" The last thing Lucy saw was the man's cruel smile before, the world went blank.

Natsu was walking along the street Lucy's apartment was on, he could smell her faint smell of vanilla and strawberries here. Finally he decided to go to her apartment, he had to find out if Lucy really left or not! Or at least a reason to prove that it wasn't entirely his fault that Lucy quit Fairy Tail.

When Natsu walked into Lucy's apartment he was shocked by the amount of stuff still in the room. Maybe she didn't leave Magnolia! Maybe she just quit, but as soon as he thought that he knew it wasn't true, even if all of Lucy's stuff were here it felt abandoned. His faced crashed drastically and backed up against the wall, he heard a squeak which surprised him as much as it surprised the girl behind him. He turned around hoping, wishing it was Lucy, but it wasn't... It was... Levy..?!

"L... Levy?" Levy rubbed her head, looking a bit foolish.

"Hi Natsu..."

"W... What are you doing here?" Natsu asked wide eyed and he tripped back, crashing into one of Lucy's many bookcases.

"I thought you would come to Lucy's house so I followed you..." Levy stopped talking and her eyes glanced to a small notebook that fell when Natsu crashed into the bookcase.

Natsu's eyes widened too when he saw what was written on the front of the notebook...

It said, "_To Fairy Tail"._

_To All The Members of Fairy Tail_

_Hi... This is Lucy._

_By the time you find this letter... or book... Depends on the way you look at it (haha) Anyways, by the time you find this I hope at least two months had passed already... Or it wouldn't be found at all, but I hope at least one of you guys found this. If you're reading this I left Fairy Tail by then and maybe... Just maybe I'll be dead... But its best that way... I think..._

_ Everyone at Fairy Tail taught be something, you showed me all sorts of things that I wouldn't have seen or felt anywhere else and I really, really, reallllyyy love you guys. I thought you guys did too, but it turned out that wasn't true... Maybe you once did and maybe you never did... But I like to think you at least liked me once..._

_ Ever since Lisanna came back I felt ignored and pushed to the back more and more, I understand that someone really precious to you has come back, but I felt so lonely... No one would talk to me, Team Natsu seemed to see me as a bother and I just felt so useless. Not saying anything about Lisanna though! She really is a sweetheart... I could have lived with it, but the real reason I quit Fairy Tail was because... It's because I'll die in two months..._

_ That time you slapped me Natsu (I'm sorry but I want you to reflect on that a bit) that mission, someone cursed me... He told me I'll die in two months time and its true, the curse is legit... I wanted to run away, away from all the pain, so I decided to leave Fairy Tail, it may have gave me so much, but it also hurt me almost as equally... So I wanted to die peacefully... Sorry for my selfish wish (if you guys even care...)_

_ Anyways this is bye... I really love you guys and I'll never think ill of you guys ever... That's why I left this letter I guess... _

_Keep on shining Fairy Tail_

_Love Lucy_

_P.S – Sorry for the sloppy writing, I was sorta in a hurry _

Levy dropped the letter she was reading and fell onto her knees sobbing.

NO NO NO NO NO!

Natsu crouched down and put a hand on her back...

_Lucy... Please come back..._


	4. SHORT AUTHORS NOTE FOR CH 3

**Shoot... Sorry for the slow update! All your review really mean a lot to me and thanks so much! (All of you are loved so much)**

**As I said I'm still new to fanfiction so Im really lost Chapter 3 is really weird and please forgive me for that! I dont know what happened to that chapter... Anyways this is like authors note for ch 3**

**Thanks for your everything! **

**Lots of love from somewhere in north america :* 3 ;***

**Please review/favourite/follow**

**3**


	5. Chapter 4: Can You Hear Me?

**Running On Empty Chapter 4: Can You Hear Me...?**

**So a sorta fast update! :D yay~ Just saying this is a NaLu. Thanks for your reviews! ;^; They really mean a whole lot to me! I probably won't update for a while or I'll update pretty soon... depending on my schedule... . ANYWAYS ENJOY! I LOVE YOU GUYS! KISS AND HUGS! \(^A^)/**

**OH! Btw, who here is a Percy Jackson and The Olympian fan? If you are tellll meeee~ You'll recieve triple the love :* *heart***

**Disclamier: (c)Hiro Mashima, except the plot ;)**

* * *

Lucy woke up feeling really, really bad. She had aches all over her body and she was in an uncomfortable position. Lucy blinked a couple of times to wake herself up... _What happened...?_ Then everything came rushing to her, she had left Fairy Tail leaving behind a letter and then she... What happened next?

Lucy looked around, her arms were bound behind her back and her legs were tied together... What happened?! Suddenly a huge light shone throughout the room, and Loke was in front of her the next second.

"Are you okay Lucy?" His face showed clear signs of worry; he crouched down beside her and put his hand on her back.

"Y... Yeah... What happened Loke?"

"I'm not sure either, someone attacked you... I saw it happening, but for a second there I couldn't find my magical power and come to help you." Loke lowered his head. "I'm so sorry Lucy." Lucy smiled faintly.

"It's fine Loke, really." He looked up and looked like he was about to say something, but then he disappeared and the door to her cell opened. The sudden light blinded Lucy for a second.

"What the..." After her eyes adjusted to the light, Lucy's eyes widened as a hand was lowering itself onto her face. She let out a hoarse scream, but then for the second time in that day, Lucy lost consciousness.

* * *

Grim silence filled the hall of Fairy Tail. Their beloved comrade was going to die in less than two months and she decided she wanted to die along, because she didn't feel loved anymore... But what was the curse that she mentioned in the letter? Was a curse like that even—

"AHHH!" Lots of people jumped at the sudden noise that interrupted their silence. A few looked towards Cana in annoyance.

"What is it Cana?" Erza snapped at Cana, a dark and evil aura emitting from her body.

"A... A scythe! I... I saw a scythe on the b... back of Lucy's neck!" Nobody had ever seen Cana stutter like that before and just the interruption was enough to gather everyone's attention.

"Wait! Was the scythe dark and had like mist surrounding it?!" Levy cried, standing up from her seat.

"Yes!" Suddenly Levy's face paled and she was as white as a ghost.

"N... No way..."

"What is it Levy?!" Natsu shouted, jumping on top of a table. Soon he was interrupted by Master Makarov.

"The Death Scythe..." Master said. "And only one person that I know of can cast a spell that powerful..." He turned to look at Lisanna. Lisanna looked away from Masters gaze and looked towards the wall. Gray caught this slight notion.

"Lisanna... What exactly happened that day?" Gray spoke slowly and uncertainly as if he was afraid of what the answer would be.

"Hey! Don't ask Lisanna such—"Natsu spoke up, but once again Master interrupted him.

"Lisanna... I want the absolute truth." Mater said.

Lisanna paled and she gulped. She had known that Lucy was well loved around the guild, she never wanted to hurt Lucy, but when she saw how close Lucy was with Natsu and the rest, jealousy got the better of her. Lisanna just wanted to accept that Natsu had found someone else to love, but... That idiot!

"I... I..." Tears formed under her eyes.

"You don't have to talk Lisa—"Natsu was thrown across the room by Gajeel.

"Shut Up and let the damn girl talk!" Gajeel shouted at Natsu.

"You little!"

"NATSU!" Master Makarov shouted, his voice thundering across the room, Natsu sat down quietly letting Lisanna speak. Lisanna took a deep breath and told them everything.

When she was finished you could've heard a pin drop in the guild hall. And suddenly the harsh reality hit everyone in the guild. Lucy was going to die, alone and scared. They had to find her. They had to find Lucy.

The guild doors slammed open and all they saw was the smoke of Natsu taking off. Looking for Lucy, soon Erza and Gray joined in and in a few minutes the guild was half empty.

* * *

Lucy screamed, her body felt like it was being torn into two. Tears were streaming down her face, she was shackled up against the wall, her clothes in tatters and she never felt so lonely in her life before.

The man that had kidnapped her was enjoying using her as a target for his magic. Smoke curled off Lucy's body and she was shaking. Soon he walked up to Lucy and touched her face, every touch made Lucy's body get goose bumps.

"Don't. Touch me." Lucy said through gritted teeth.

"But it's just so fun to hear your screams. Lucy." He lingered on her name and Lucy got shivers down her spine.

He kneed her in the stomach and Lucy bit her tongue forcing herself not to scream. The man seemed disappointed.

"Perhaps we could go further... Lucy." He whispered and his hands trailed down to the button of my shirt. Lucy's eyes widened and she started to shake.

"No. God please... No!" The only sounds soon left were the mysterious man's cruel laughter as he tore apart Lucy's clothes, Lucy's silent tears and the voice inside of her crying out.

_Anybody... Please help me! Someone?! Can you hear me...?_

* * *

Natsu tore through the streets of Magnolia trailing Lucy's scent, until he stopped a few miles from Magnolia. This was where Lucy was last, but where'd she go afterwards, Natsu looked around. Lucy's scent stopped here, then he looked up towards the sky and shouted,

"LUCY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

* * *

**THANKS FOR BEARING WITH ME! I WUV YOU ALL :3**

**Oh and I can't to the tail thing when I wanna do a heart Q.Q why? So I'll just do *heart* from now on XD**

***heart* *heart* *heart* XD **

**LOTS OF LOVE FROM SOMEWHERE IN NORTH AMERICA! :D**

**PLEASE BE PATIENT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!**


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